Analysis of Canadian market for MRO Products by end-user and region.
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This article is an overview of trends, events and shifts in the wholesale distribution sector in the past year.
On Dec. 25, 2008, I wrote that we were transitioning into an era with "no bubbles," quoting New York Times columnist Paul Krugman.
While the housing bubble has popped, we may not yet be bubble-free. A smaller bubble may be emerging, as government spending keeps the economy propped up, and economic stimulus package funds are doled out to state and local governments for infrastructure and other large projects.
Looking forward, government spending will play a large role in the economy thanks to the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, which undoubtedly will be the first thing to come to mind when "2009" is uttered …
Expectations are for the positive conditions experienced in the second half of 2009 to continue in manufacturing, while the non-manufacturing sector expects marginal growth, say the nation's purchasing and supply management executives in the Institute for Supply Management's December 2009 Semiannual Economic Forecast. The overall forecast projects …
After a year of uncertainty, 3M is looking forward to a year of recovery, though the pace of recovery will be "patchy and slow," according to President and CEO George W. Buckley. Buckley addressed analysts and investors at the 3M 2010 Outlook meeting earlier this month.
"2010 will be a year of separation: The strong will get stronger, and the weak won't," Buckley said. "This will be a time when real market share transfers could begin."
Sales for the St. Paul, MN-based diversified manufacturer have …
Optimism in the economy continues to pick up steam, though that optimism is tempered for many by the fact that we still have a long way to go. Each measurement of the economy's strength is impacted by several others.
During diversified manufacturer 3M's 2010 Outlook meeting earlier this month, CEO George Buckley called it a "chicken-and-egg" scenario. Determining which measure signifies recovery can be difficult. Is it when unemployment …
October 2009 sales of merchant wholesalers, except manufacturers' sales branches and offices, after adjustment for seasonal variations and trading-day differences but not for price changes, were $326.2 billion, up 1.2 percent from the revised September level, but down 9.6 percent from October 2008. October sales of durable goods were up 0.8 percent from last month, but were down 11.1 percent from a year ago. Sales of computer and computer …
Here's an exclusive summary of Adam Fein's 2010 Economic Forecast for Wholesale Distribution, presented at an MDM Webcast in November and now available on CD.
Employment will be a key factor in recovery, according to wholesale distribution industry expert Adam Fein, who recently presented the 2010 Economic Forecast for Wholesale Distribution in an MDM Webcast.
He forecasts 6.6 percent growth in wholesale distribution for 2010; excluding oil and gas, and agricultural products, he expects growth of 5.6 percent. That compares with a decline of 11 percent in 2009.
Growth expectations vary within the distribution sector, with a forecast of …
Whatever your feelings on "green," many distributors have increased their focus in this area, finding profitable growth at a time when growth is hard to find. MDM spoke with expert Bill Bean, who said companies interested in pursuing this growth opportunity need to go beyond just labeling products "green"; the change should be part of a strategic plan.
Even as more distributors and manufacturers are entering into "green" markets, several questions remain as to whether green is the right way to expand, and if now, given current conditions, is the right time to explore the new markets.
"Business is tough right now," says Bill Bean, president of Green Planning & Coaching. "I find myself telling people that there is no new business in traditional markets today, only someone else's business. …
This article provides a summary of key points made by two speakers on the State of the Industry at the November Specialty Tools and Fasteners Distributors Association annual trade show and convention. Les Ireland, vice president at Black & Decker, and Hal Look, the vice president of ProBuild's specialty building products division, spoke about the challenges their industry has faced in the past year and how STAFDA members should look forward to recovery.
A clear message was presented at the annual State of the Industry addresses at the November meeting of the Specialty Tools and Fasteners Distributor Association this year: The recession has changed …
The product group listed here – Welding Gases & Equipment – represented a market in 2008 of $X.XX billion, according to estimates by Industrial Market Information, Minneapolis. Download the charts below for the top ten industries, by SIC code, consuming these products; and the 2008 end-user consumption of these groups sorted by the nine government market regions.
Modern Distribution Management's August Inflation Index, which measures a cross-section of industrial supplies, was down 0.62% from the previous month, and up 2.14% from August 2008.
Vendor Managed Inventory services are gaining ground. This article considers the challenges to implementing managed inventory programs, whether a manufacturer or a distributor is providing VMI to customer. MDM spoke to Fastenal and Updike Supply, as well as inventory expert Jon Schreibfeder and two vendors to gain perspective on current trends in VMI.
With uncertainty dominating the economic landscape, companies are continuing to look for ways to cut costs. Many have already cut staff and production to levels not experienced in decades. They have outsourced tasks that could be done for less outside of the firm. But what about inventory management?
More customers are showing interest in using inventory management services from their suppliers, according to those who supply those services. Many larger public distributors …
Facilities maintenance distributor W.W. Grainger, with more than $6.5 billion in annual sales. recently held its annual analyst meeting. This article provides an overview of its key talking points in the meeting, including Grainger's market forecasts, acquisition plans, MRO customer mindset and global plans.
Details in this article were taken from Grainger's annual analyst meeting Webcast at grainger.com.
Grainger CEO Jim Ryan said it right this month at the distributor's annual analyst meeting: "I'm getting tired of looking at negative numbers, and I know you are, too." The company presented some much more optimistic numbers for 2010, and said its approach to the past year of down has helped prop it up for good growth going forward.
Ryan said the downturn "has had a profound impact on not only our business but on our industry."
Grainger has outperformed the industry as …
Mixed messages abound on the economy in the last month. While many analysts are cautiously optimistic that recovery has begun – Ken Goldstein of The Conference Board said "economic recovery is finally settling in" – other reports continue to paint a more dismal picture of where the U.S. economy stands today.
Privately-owned housing starts in October were …
Many distributors have been drawn into price wars, in part due to a dramatic drop in sales volume for many. To learn how distributors can more effectively react when challenged on price, MDM spoke with pricing expert Mark Bergen of the University of Minnesota, who has been studying the effects of price wars and how to fight them for more than two decades.
Bergen says that companies often miss the mark in their responses to a price war. This article looks at why the customers' perspective becomes the most important factor when determining how to react.
Amazon, Wal-Mart and Target have been making headlines in the past month over their hard-cover book price-cutting battles. According to reports, Wal-Mart sparked
The Stanley Works and Black & Decker have recently announced they are merging to form an $8.4 billion manufacturer. The deal, which the companies insist is not due to economic conditions, seems to be getting a positive response from channels the suppliers serve. Still, distributors are watching the manufacturers closely as they move toward closing the deal in the first half of 2010.
While the initial announcement came as a surprise to many, the merger of The Stanley Works (NYSE: SWK), New Britain, CT, and The Black & Decker Corp. (NYSE: BDK), Towson, MD, also made sense to many with interests in …
This interview is part of a monthly series of association president interviews. Find past MDM interviews at www.mdm.com/interviews.
The Power Transmission Distributors Association's outgoing and incoming presidents recently spoke with MDM Editor Lindsay Konzak about challenges in the industry, association successes building leadership in the younger generation, and PTDA's push on the motion control front.
Drew Tucci, director of sales & marketing of Eastern Bearings, Inc., Waltham, MA, finishes his tenure as president at the end of 2009. Keith Nowak, president of MPT Drives Inc., Madison Heights, MI, was elected president at PTDA's Industry Summit in San Diego, CA, last month and will take the helm in 2010.
The product group listed here - Power Tools - represented a market in 2008 of $X.XX billion, according to estimates by Industrial Market Information, Minneapolis. Download the charts below for the top ten industries, by SIC code, consuming these products; and the 2008 end-user consumption of these groups sorted by the nine government market regions.
This is the MDM Public Distributor Report, provided on a quarterly basis to subscribers of Modern Distribution Management. It is available online only.
On the first three pages, you will find recent sales figures from various sectors, as well as a Reports Digest, with information you can use from public distributor and manufacturer reports and earnings calls, distilled by MDM.
On page three of this Public Distributor Report, we feature MSC Industrial, which released its annual results. It features snippets from its 10K annual report and investor call.
The latest numbers for dozens of public distributors across various wholesale sectors are on the back page and provided by Robert W. Baird & Co.
We hope you will view this quarterly feature as another way to gather ideas, stay on top of the moves of your largest competitors, and hone your business plan.
This article looks at one way wholesaler-distributors of all sizes are saving money and boosting their bottom lines: by renegotiating leases. The author looks at why it's a good time to renegotiate, where to start when renegotiating lease terms, and what to offer in return for lower rates.
When the real estate market crumbled, the market price for leasing business space also took a hit. Yet most companies continued to pay the higher rates because they were locked into leases.
That was the case for KAR Industrial …
